PEORIA, Ariz.  When asked about the difference a year can make, Chris Denorfia smiled Thursday morning and looked toward the middle of the Padres clubhouse.

"My locker is not on wheels this spring," said Denorfia. "It's built into the wall . . . permanent."

A year ago, Denorfia was in the Padres camp as a non-roster minor league free agent -- trying to rebuild, at the age of 29, a once promising career that had lost almost two seasons to elbow reconstruction surgery.

"I was battling for my career," says Denorfia. "I was glad to have a chance. But I knew I had to make an impression."

Spring statistics alone aren't good enough to impress major league teams these days. Players, particularly those in camp as minor league free agents, can be judged on everything from attitude to conditioning to hustle.

"Chris really put out last spring," Padres manager Bud Black said late last season while discussing the outfielder. "He played well, he did everything we asked. He impressed us."

And in the end, it still wasn't enough.

Just before Opening Day, Denorfia was optioned to Triple-A Portland.

So close . . .

But unlike many other players in his circumstance, Denorfia was not dismayed. He had gotten the attention of the Padres. There was just no room in the outfield.

"All along, I was honest with myself," said Denorfia looking back. "I had a pretty good idea that no matter what I did in spring training, that I was going to have to start the season in the minor leagues.

"Last spring was something of an introduction. I was showing the Padres who I was. I wasn't that upset that I was sent down because I had prepared myself to be ready to follow that road."

Denorfia spent the first six weeks of the 2010 season at Triple-A Portland, hitting .306. He spent the final 4 1/2 months with the Padres, hitting .271 with nine homers and 36 RBI while making 72 starts.

The Padres rewarded the arbitration-eligible Denorfia with a one-year contract worth $800,000. He came to camp this season with a solid inside track on the No. 4 outfield job.

So everything has changed for Denorfia from a year ago. And nothing has changed.

"Everyone in this room is looking for a job," said Denorfia. "My situation might be a little different from a year ago, but my approach is not. I know as well as anyone what can happen."

Not only did Denorfia lose the entire 2007 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, he said it took him more than another full season to fully get his stroke back -- which might be a warning for those expecting Kyle Blanks to immediately bounce back from the same surgery he had last July.

"Kyle has two things going for me that I didn't," said Denorfia. "He was younger when he suffered the injury. And the Padres have kept him very much a part of the team during the rehab process.

"I had been traded (from Cincinnati to Oakland) and I spent most of my rehab time away from the team, rehabbing on my own."